Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-04-30

Especial tortssipadsncsl
NEW loRk, April 2s.--l followed Jay
Gould into Wall street. A great many
who try to do that same thing, financially,
are led to disaster; hut my act was lit.
cral, and 1t took me into curious place.
II also enabled me to discover that Gould
does not risk his all in ycnturcsomc en-.
tcrpriscs, but habtually lays away u por.
ton OF his fortune beyond the reach OF
ordinary losses. lie entered brokers'
office in the second story Of a building
the Office of a dealer in what are called
unlisted securities. or stocks which are
not spcCulatcd in nj the stock Exchange.
There is no business on margins here.
The proprietor keeps ON hand an assort-
ment of stocks, and his customers, after
the manner of II shopper in dry goods
store, look them over, Cogiiatc over
prices. dickcr awhile and finally pur-
/ 'hase what they desire, taking away the
securities a. they would 50 much cloth.
lay Gould on this visit asked the dealer
{ hc had anything attractive. The reply
was that some street railroad shares
,hout hundred thousand dollars worth
were good and cheap. Gould took
them in his hands. galcd critically at
them. talked about their value, and at
length bought thcm--giving his check
m the spot for the amount, putting them
into his inside pocket. and departing
quietly
Il think that Mr. Gould gets genuine
satisfaction out of these purchases for in
Vestment," said the broker Il under
stand that hc makes gifts of them TO hi
children. and at times to employees coun-
selling them to regard them as permanent
capital He takes my word implicitly ~
to the dividends of the securities that |
offer. and other matters of fact, and then
We haggle "a little bit over the price; but
he isn't mean at all, il he thinks he is get
ting real value. | don't doubt that have,
within five years. sold two millions to
him, and he has probably purchased five
times IA much elsewhere in securities
quite outside Of speculative range. When
| find lot of stocks or bonds that can
he had cheap and for cash, buy them out
right and when somebody comes along
10 take them at n satisfactory advance.
then l sell. Sometimes my profit is large,
and sometimes small, but 1t il always
something because am never forced to
make sacrifice. am like "A merchant
who deals in staple securities instead Of
staple dry goods have u regular run
Of trade, built up by twentyfour years
Of attention to business. and | have cap
ital enough to keep good assortment Oi
goods alway. on hand.
who are your customers | asked
We'll" he replied, "Thurlow Weed
was one. | have no doubt that in ten
years l sold him an aggregate of half IA
million dollars worth Of stuN Tie had
no great desire to own real estate, deem
ing ii bothersorae to manage, whereas
securities were portable, convertible and
on the whole about as safe. But hc was
never a speculator Whatever he bought
disappeared permanently from the
market He had II fancy for street rail
road stocks and often came here tn see
what had in them. lie had knowledge
of the condition of the companies and
their present and probable incomes that
was remarkable and he was a shrewd,
close buyer. He stopped dealing with
me about two years before his death. and
| have understood that delusion to the
effect that he was in danger of becoming
poor got into his otherwise remarkably
clear head The last time saw him here he
seemed to have suddenly lost some of hi.
former good Judgment. lie fanCied that
all the horse railroads were about to be
come bankrupt, and for the first time
during our business relations he desire,
to he "a seller instead of buyer.
thought AT first that he was joking, anC
when he asked for an offer for a certain
block of excellent stock | named a priC,
away below what he had few month.
ago before paid me for it. He surprised
me by accepting but he never brought
the paper nor had any further dealings
with me, and believe that the manage
ment Of his business affairs was practi-
cally taken out of his hands"
Our talk was interrupted by the en-
trance of an old man, whose dress indi-
Gated that he had stopped forty years
ago in his effort to keep up with fashion.
and whose decrepitude was such that he
ought to have been seeking n kind @.
treasure that he could lay up beyond the
reach of moth, rust and thieves. But he
was on the lookout for monetary bar
gains.
This is the most chronic old shopper
among my customers said the broker.
You'll see him paw over my stock like
. an old woman at the marked-do
counter in fancy-goods store
As this was spoken aloud, looked for
hot resentment in the ancient and refined
Knickerbocker, but he had not heard
word, and when the broker said anything
for him to understand it was through The
medium OF an ear-irumpet. But merely
hearing about the securities did not sat
isfy him. lie must see and feel them.
, one lot was recommended to him as
ChcaD and valuable hut after CrIlmDlinp